Autopilot help:
Ben said:
although whenever we start it on a route it will go about 350 feet to port then about 90 feet to starboard
a. The behavior of the boat altering course to the port and starboard may be an improperly adjusted rudder position reference unit. If the AP doesn't know what position the rudder is when it thinks it's centered, it will demonstrate the described behavior. Pull out your manual, if you have it, and verify the rudder position sensing unit is properly aligned, and that the AP knows where Center is. On my Raymarine unit I have it a few degrees off center to account for the increased rudder moment required as you add power. Most of my cruising under AP control is at 12 knots, so the rudder center is different than when at 7 knots. When engaged at 7 knots there is an ever so gentle swing to the port, then corrected.
and:
Consequently we kept losing feed from GPS to computer etc. &
We had been told that each GPS should feed 4 or 5 units
b. A GPS outputs data in NMEA format, a serial data stream. I believe the spec says a single sender can connect to 3 listeners. 4 or 5 could draw the signal down to the point of not being intelligible to the attached listeners.
----- Original Message -----
Could Ben please comment on the performance of his Navman autopilot?
Which model does he have?
Thank you,
Ron Rogers
Passagemaking-Under-Power Mailing List
Autopilot help:
Ben said:
although whenever we start it on a route it will go about 350 feet to port then about 90 feet to starboard
a. The behavior of the boat altering course to the port and starboard may be an improperly adjusted rudder position reference unit. If the AP doesn't know what position the rudder is when it thinks it's centered, it will demonstrate the described behavior. Pull out your manual, if you have it, and verify the rudder position sensing unit is properly aligned, and that the AP knows where Center is. On my Raymarine unit I have it a few degrees off center to account for the increased rudder moment required as you add power. Most of my cruising under AP control is at 12 knots, so the rudder center is different than when at 7 knots. When engaged at 7 knots there is an ever so gentle swing to the port, then corrected.
and:
Consequently we kept losing feed from GPS to computer etc. &
We had been told that each GPS should feed 4 or 5 units
b. A GPS outputs data in NMEA format, a serial data stream. I believe the spec says a single sender can connect to 3 listeners. 4 or 5 could draw the signal down to the point of not being intelligible to the attached listeners.
> >----- Original Message -----
> > Could Ben please comment on the performance of his Navman autopilot?
> > > Which model does he have?
> >>
> >> Thank you,
> > > Ron Rogers
> _______________________________________________
> Passagemaking-Under-Power Mailing List
